“I like everything about acting and being a part of this play,” declares Amudha, a Class VI student from the Vanavil school. Her friends Anjala Devi and Vaidehi too share her enthusiasm. They are among 26 students from the school who were in Chennai earlier this month to stage their play Bommaimuga Singangal .
Vanavil, an alternative school, was started after the 2004 tsunami in Nagapattinam for children from marginalised communities. The children belong to the Adiyan (who were traditionally the ‘Boom Boom Maatukkarars ’) and the Narikuvar tribe.
Struggling for a livelihood, many parents, who are nomadic, have taken up seasonal jobs. Some of them also beg at temples nearby. “As an alternative school, arts and theatre, in particular, are an important part of the curriculum, as we want to encourage natural talent the children have. This has made schooling more enjoyable for them and has helped greatly improve their language skills, as most children are not native Tamil speakers,” said R. Revathi, correspondent of the school.
Over the last four years, the children have been going through theatre workshops during summer holidays and have staged plays.
A social tool
“Attending the workshops during summer holidays ensures that the children aren’t made to work or beg. They’re extremely enthusiastic and even those who have dropped out from school come back to be involved in theatre,” Ms. Revathi said, emphasising how theatre has been an effective pedagogic and social tool for integration.
Apart from staging the plays in their school in Nagapattinam, the children have performed at the South Indian Children’s Theatre Festival in Kochi.
They have also applied to the National Children’s Theatre Festival to be held in New Delhi.
While several children who performed on July 20 in the city said they were looking forward to be part of the play next year as well, cheering them on were former students of the school. Now in college, many of them, who had come to help out and watch the children perform, had memories of taking part in plays staged by the school.
G. Vijaykumar, who has trained the children and worked with them for four years, said they were extremely receptive to learning and being involved in putting up a play.
“Their playfulness and innocence is what I wanted to bring on stage. The plays so far have tackled a range of issues, including concerns faced by indigenous tribes and conservation of water and other natural resources,” he added.
